


uniting albion.

by storiestold



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arthur Pendragon Returns (Merlin), Canon Era, F/M, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Past Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:14:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23480764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiestold/pseuds/storiestold
Summary: Arthur returns to Camelot a year after his downfall. He returns to a missing Merlin. Guinevere is struggling to keep Cendred’s kingdom at bay and Arthur has to help unite the lands as they should have been before he’d gone. He’s still got work to do. Find Merlin, unite the lands, change the laws and help raise his daughter? Join Arthur and Merlin and Gwen in this version of Arthur returning after the battle of Camlann.
Relationships: Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen/Leon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter One

When Arthur pulled himself out of the lake drenched, he wasn’t entirely sure where he was until he realized he was exactly where he last remembered. The lake near Camelot. There had been a dragon and Merlin. Merlin wasn’t there now and he wished that he was so that he could yell at him for not having something warm for him to change into. No matter, he would dry in the sun. 

Looking around, everything looked the same as he last remembered. The trees blowing in the breeze, the lake with a glint on the water from the sun behind him. He didn’t have a horse with him, but he started the trek back to the castle. As he walked he realized that the injury in his side didn’t ache. If anything, it seemed like it wasn’t there. He found himself checking it every once and awhile to make sure be was right on that and he was. Whatever he’d been through, it had healed him and brought him back. Though why he was brought back he wasn’t sure. 

It took him hours to reach the castle, longer than it would have if he’d had a horse. He passed by people who stopped and stared rather than bow to him like they would have done before and he couldn’t even bring himself to scold them, not when they looked like they had seen a ghost. And maybe they had. He didn’t know why he was back, nor did he know how much time had passed. It didn’t look like too long of time could have passed because he recognized some of the peasants and the street. Deep down he knew that was a relief, because the alternative wasn’t something that he wanted to think about. 

It was when he truly reached the castle did knights hurry forward to let him inside, that surprised look on their faces as well. Arthur might’ve spoken to them, but first he wanted to see Guinevere. And he wanted to find Merlin. 

“Someone get me my servant,” Arthur called to a guard as he let himself inside the grand castle. “And my wife.” 

He could see them looking between other guards and he gave them a look that clearly said, ‘Go on!’ They scurried forward and hurried on. Arthur sat himself at a bench in the hallway. At least now he was dry, but he was also starving. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was on the walk over. 

It wasn’t Merlin who was to greet him, but Guinevere. She too had that surprised look on her face at the sight of him, but in the next moment she had scooped him up in her arms. 

“You’re alive!” She breathed against his neck. There were no tears, however, which surprised him. Gwen pulled back to look at him, smiling. 

“Merlin said you didn’t make it. But you’re here…,” she was beaming, brighter than ever before. He noticed Leon join them, but hardly paid him any mind. 

“I did die,” he said softly. “I was….never mind. I’ll talk about that later. How long have I been gone?” 

A concerned expression crossed Guinevere’s face before she replied, “It’s been a year, Arthur. What do you mean you died? How are you here?” He waved her off as he stood. A year. He’d missed a year. 

“Where’s Merlin?” Arthur asked her next, knowing that no one had answered that. He finally looked at Leon and then Guinevere, hoping one of them would at least give him an answer to the question that he needed answered. Why had he not seen Merlin yet? Had something happened to him? Had he done something stupid to bring him back? He hoped not. 

“We’ve not seen him,” Gwen finally said. He turned his gaze to hers, a slight brow raised. 

“Not seen him?”

She nodded before continuing, “No. Well, he came back for a little while to tell us you passed, but then he left. And he hasn’t returned. Gaius suspects he’s either at his mothers or gone to stay in that cave you two found Balinor in.” 

Arthur hadn’t thought that Merlin of all people would run away from his grief, but he supposed he couldn’t blame him. Not after all they’d been through in those final moments together. And chances were Merlin wouldn’t think he was welcome there anymore, not with the magic he’d kept hidden for all those years. 

Arthur ended up nodding before saying, “I’m going to my chambers. Have someone bring me something to eat.” And then thinking of it, he added, “Please,” because he knew he needed to try to be better now that he was back and he hadn’t said please and thank you very often before. 

Guinevere looked like she wanted to say something else, but he noticed Leon rest a hand on her shoulder. That was interesting, but he didn’t comment on it and instead he turned and headed back toward his chambers. Surely they were the same, that was unless Gwen had taken them over. Which she had been welcome to if she'd wanted to do so. 

Once he got there, he shucked himself out of his armor, glad that the chambers were the same. His armor clambered on the floor loudly and he flung himself onto his bed. 

Merlin was gone. He was back. He didn’t know why he was back and he needed answers. He would look for Merlin after he had rested. The idiot should have stayed, but there was nothing he could do about that now. 

The king drifted off into sleep, being woken by George half an hour later with a steaming tray of food. George didn’t ask questions, which was a relief, but his appearance reminded him too much of Merlin, so he asked him to leave him alone. 

Arthur wasn’t sure, but when he heard his chamber doors open and close, he thought that he'd heard a baby cry. 


	2. Chapter Two

Merlin hadn’t stayed in Camelot for very long after he’d returned to tell them all of Arthur’s passing. He couldn’t stay there when the man he cared for the most, when his best friend, was gone from the world. There were too many memories and he felt like a complete and utter failure. What had been all of that stuff about them being supposed to bring about the a golden era? He had been a fool all along to listen to the dragon and now he didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing with himself. 

So Merlin left Camelot. For the first few weeks he stayed with his mother, working on the farm to keep himself busy. He worked himself until he passed out at night from exhaustion and didn’t have to think about anything. It was when his mother voiced her worries for him did he decided it was time to go. He didn’t want to burden her any longer than he already had. Even things in Ealdor were different than when he’d grown up there. Will was gone for starters and everyone else he’d once known had moved on with their lives. It seemed he was the one who could never properly find his place in the world. 

He explored for a time. Going as far as his feet would carry him before he ended up back in a familiar cave, his fathers cave. Everything he’d left behind was still there. Journals and books and trinkets his father had carved. In the time that he stayed there he learned more about the man than he ever had. He also knew that Balinor had loved his mother dearly. A lot of those journal entries he hadn’t been able to bring himself to read, they were much too personal. Perhaps he would bring this all to his mother, though he wasn’t sure if that would just break her heart more. He’d hated that night when he’d finally told her about Balinor and how he’d died. His mother had looked heartbroken and all he had been able to do was just be there for her. 

Now his days seemed to pass by slowly. Merlin wondered how things in Camelot were getting along. He wished he wasn’t such a coward in needing to stay away, because he was sure Gwen could use his help. She’d told him she was pregnant when he left and he wasn’t sure if that was to entice him to stay or what it was, but he had left anyway. He should have stayed, should have helped her with the pregnancy and Arthur’s baby. Would Arthur have wanted him to do that? He wasn’t sure. Even though Arthur had told him to always be himself, he was being far from that. 

A year had passed and Merlin rarely saw anyone unless it was to go into the nearby villages to gather food or the occasional letter from his mother. 

One day he got a letter from a raven, a letter early in the morning, much too early for his mother to even be sending letters, but there it was. He opened the scroll and sent the raven on it’s way. 

> _Merlin,_
> 
> _Some knights of Camelot came by. They say Arthur has returned. I send this to you hoping that you will go home. I too thought it might be false words, someone just wanting you back in the castle, but it was Leon who came and you know how serious he is. Go home. See what’s going on. Perhaps it is true and your King has returned to you._
> 
> _Be safe, my boy._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Mother_

All Merlin could do was stare at the letter in his hands. Arthur returned? Surely it wasn’t right. It couldn’t be right. How could it be? Sure, the dragon had said Arthur would return when Albion needed him the most and as far as Merlin knew, things were fine. Then again, what did he know. He had been stuck in a cave for nearly a year. Swallowing thickly, Merlin looked over the letter again. _Returned_. If this was true, then no wonder knights showed up in Ealdor. Chances are Arthur would be throwing up a storm with him gone. And then another worry crossed his mind, what he he just wanted to send him to the pyre for lying so long?

No, _no_. Arthur had understood. He understood once he explained everything and they were best friends. Well, they had never really been able to say as much but they might as well be and he…oh, he was foolish for what he felt and that didn’t matter anyway. All he did know was that he would have his shields up if he did go back home.

Merlin tucked away the letter into his pocket and busied himself around the cave. He gathered what he could into a bag and cleaned up his face, though there wasn’t much he could do about the lengthened hair, he did manage to trim most of his beard. It had to be noon by the time he was all finished and he scrounged up a bit of food to eat for lunch before he tucked the rest away into his bag as well. 

**_Home_**. He was going home. Merlin looked over the cave that had been his home for the past months before he shouldered his bag and left. The cave would always be here should he ever need to return, but he needed to go back and see if what he had been told was true. Hopefully it wasn’t a trap.


	3. Chapter Three

As soon as Arthur had woken up the next morning he called for a guard to get Leon. He was dressed by the time Leon showed up and he ordered him to send some knights to Merlin’s mother and let him know that he returned. Leon volunteered to go himself, but he insisted he take one other. Percival. Percy, it seemed, was staying around Gwaine’s bedside these days, not that Arthur knew that yet. He had a lot to learn about the events that lead up to his return. 

Leon left and Arthur had breakfast. It was during breakfast that he heard that cry again. A cry. There had never been very many babies in the castle before, if any at all. Had something changed? And it had sounded rather close too. Deciding to go investigate, Arthur finished his breakfast and left his chambers for the first time since yesterday. 

The hallways were quieter now, but that didn’t stop Arthur from looking around. He ended up toward Guinevere’s chambers and realized he heard the whimpering there and the shushing that went along with it. Concerned, Arthur knocked on the door. He could have just gone in, Gwen was technically still his wife. Wasn’t she? Regardless, he was trying his best to be polite and after a moment, Gwen called, “Come in!” 

Arthur pushed open the doors and whoever Guinevere had expected to see, it wasn’t him. Though he didn’t expect to see what she was holding either. A baby. At least a few months old, practically newborn in her arms. 

“Arthur,” Gwen said with a soft smile. “I had almost wondered if last night had been a dream.” 

She bounced the baby in her arms and Arthur closed the doors behind him. Small tufts of dark brown hair could be seen on the little one and the bit of skin on the face he could see was a light caramel color. 

“She has your eyes. Do you want to see?” Gwen spoke, breaking his stare. His eyes? Yes, it made sense. Didn’t it? Guinevere must have had the baby recently, but there was no denying that it was theirs. And she?

“A daughter?” He asked, curious as he stepped closer. 

Gwen nodded. “Yes, a daughter. I named her after your mother. And you, I suppose. Ygraine Arwen Pendragon. Arwen seemed more fitting than Arthur.” Her tone had turned teasing and his lips turned into a smile. 

Named after his mother. As he looked on the little one, he could the name suited her perfectly and he wondered if his mother would have been proud.

“Do you want to hold her, Arthur?” 

At the question, Arthur took a step back. It was a bad idea for him to hold anyone’s children, especially his own. She must have seen the look in his eyes, Guinevere said next, “You’re not your father, Arthur.” 

She understood far more than most would. Arthur swallowed thickly and shook his head. 

“Even so, I shouldn’t. And I…,” how could he voice that he didn’t want the child to get comfortable with him? Not when he didn’t know what any of this being back meant? 

“Not yet,” Arthur added softly. 

Guinevere gave him a look of understanding and he might have kissed her on the cheek, except he didn’t know where they stood. Instead, he said, “I sent Leon to go find Merlin. Well, to let Merlin’s mother know I’m here in case he’s not with his mother, anyway.” 

The queen didn’t look surprised at that, so she nodded. “I knew you’d send for Merlin as soon as you could. Though, Arthur, do try not to be hard on him if he comes back. Losing you hasn’t been easy for any of us.” 

Remembering that touch from the night before, Arthur wondered if Gwen might have moved on. It might seem soon, but he’d left her with a kingdom to run and if there would have been anyone to help her, it would have been Leon. Though he would only ask that question when the time was right. Who knew, maybe he was jumping to conclusions. 

Now that the baby had drifted back off to sleep, Gwen carried her over to the cot near her bed and placed her in it. 

“How old is she?” Arthur asked curiously. He wouldn’t hold her, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. 

“Three months. And she’s doing so wonderfully. According to Gaius, she’ll be holding up her head on her own soon. And she eats well. That’s what I had been helping her with when you showed up.” She looked like s he was scolding him a little there and he had the decency to look a little guilty in return. 

“Did she have enough?” He was a bit surprised that Gwen wasn’t using a mother nurse, but then he knew Gwen and she’d want to take care of her own child in any way that she could. 

“She had plenty. I was just teasing you. And anyway, I’m glad to see you. We have much to talk about.” 

That they did. Guinevere sat at the edge of her bed and she patted a spot for him to sit next to her. Knowing he could catch up on everything else in the castle later, he sat and spoke with Gwen, letting her catch him up on everything that was happening that she knew of. 

Apparently things were not as peaceful as it seemed. When Gwen told him of Cenred’s kingdom trying to make a move on theirs again, he frowned. When would that man ever give up? It also, according to Guinevere, didn’t help that she was trying to make it legal for magic users to pass through the city. He thought that was a good thing, but Cenred was calling them hypocrites and he didn’t seem to think that she was fit to rule. Gwen showed him some letters that the man had wrote, of him trying to worm his way to her to woo her at first before giving up and threatening her instead. 

Arthur began to wonder if this was the reason why he was brought back. To protect his kingdom and his family, to unite the lands as he should have done years ago. He didn’t know if there would ever be any reconciling with Cenred, but he had to try. 

He rested a gentle hand on Guinevere’s arm and promised that he would do whatever he could to fix things. He just hoped that he would end up having Merlin’s help in the meantime as well. 


	4. Chapter Four

Camelot wasn’t far off now. He had been able to see the castle cresting through the trees. An hour more and he’d be there. Many times now Merlin had contemplated going back. What if this was all some elaborate trap to get him back and to what? Gwen wouldn’t execute him. They had been friends for too long for that. However, he was still wary and on the first sign of trouble, he would go back to the cave. 

An hour and a half later, Merlin stepped onto the citadel. No one stopped him as he continued through, but he noticed the looks. Some of uncertainty and others questioning. He didn’t know if Gwen had told everyone that he was a sorcerer. She must not have because surely the knights would seize him if she had. When he got inside, he found a servant and asked where the queen was. In her chambers was the answer. He probably should go and see Gaius first, but since he didn’t want to get the man’s hopes up for him to stay, he continued toward Gwen’s chambers instead. 

When he reached there he didn’t hear anything, but he knocked anyway, hoping that Gwen was in and also hoping that he would be getting some answers soon. Why had he been called back here? Surely Arthur being back wasn’t true. 

The door opened and Guinevere’s smiling face greeted him. There was also the baby in her arms too and guilt tugged at his own features. 

“None of that now. You’re here. Arthur called for you. I was wondering when you’d show up. He’ll be happy to see you.”

Happy to see him and Arthur didn’t sound like something that should be a sentence, but at least he didn’t seem to be being lead into a trap. 

“So he’s really here then?”

“Do you think we’d lie to you? Of course he is. And trust me, I was as surprised as you were when he came barging into the castle. First apparently demanding to know where you were and then wanting to see me. One might think he hadn’t been dead at all.” 

_But he had been_ , Merlin wanted to say, but he didn’t know how much he could say. He wasn’t even entirely sure what was going on. 

The baby in Gwen’s arms shifted and Merlin caught sight of shockingly familiar blue eyes. The child was much too young to have developed that color so quickly, so perhaps it was just coincidence. 

“She looks much like Arthur, doesn’t she? I expect her eyes will stay that way.” Gwen kissed her daughter on the forehead and he smiled softly at them both. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

Guinevere gave a shrug of her shoulders before she replied, “It’s alright, Merlin. I understand you had to deal with everything that had happened on your own. And I wasn’t completely alone. I had Leon and Gaius.”

He lifted a brow. “Leon?” 

“Yes. He’s been rather helpful this past year. Charming, too.”

Merlin chuckled a bit, glad to see that his friend had been able to move on. But knowing that, he wondered how she was dealing with Arthur being back. 

“Arthur?” 

“Things are….I don’t know, Merlin. But you should go see him. He’s been wanting to see you.” 

Of course he was, thought Merlin. Arthur was likely ready to start yelling up a storm at him. Sighing softly, he nodded. Gwen leaned forward and pressed a friendly kiss to his cheek. 

“It’ll be alright. You two should speak with each other.”

“You don’t need anything right now?” Merlin asked, just to try to further get out of seeing Arthur. 

His friend seemed to know what he was trying to do, because she shook her head and said, “No. I’m alright, right now. I’m going to put her down for a nap. You go on. I’ll be here when you’re done. Oh and he’s in his chambers. He’s been spending most of the day in there actually.” 

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Merlin left and walked the familiar path toward Arthur’s chambers. He never thought he’d go there again, not after he’d left Camelot. He hadn’t planned on coming back and now…now everything had _changed_. 

Merlin walked slowly toward Arthur’s chambers and where before he would have just let himself in, he knocked instead. 

“Who is it?” Arthur called out. 

_Arthur_. And not someone else. That was definitely Arthur’s voice and he barely noticed himself wrapping his arms around himself. 

“It’s Merlin, sire.” 

He’d barely had a chance to open the doors, because the next moment Arthur had opened them and he was there standing in front of him like out of a dream. Merlin’s first instinct was to hug him, but he kept back, watching and waiting as the man looked him over. 

“Took you long enough. You should have been at the lake. I had to walk soaked the whole way over here.”

Of course. _Of bloody course_ the great once and future king would complain about him not having dry clothes for him, not the fact that he’d come back.

Dropping his hands, Merlin replied, “Oh _so sorry_ , sire. I’ll be more prompt next time.” He hadn’t even bothered to hide the sarcasm in his voice then either. 

What happened next did surprise him. It was Arthur who hugged him, pulling him in tight, patting his back and all. 

“It’s good to see you, Merlin,” Arthur said after a moment, pulling back to look at him. Merlin noticed that Arthur too had gotten a few inches onto his hair. They must not do haircuts in Avalon, he thought wryly. 

“Your hair has grown. And you’ve got a bit of a beard, looks like a sloppy cut there. No proper knives wherever you were, eh?” Arthur asked, clearly noticing his own changes as well. 

Merlin reached out and shoved him playfully, earning a delighted smile from Arthur in return. Whatever he had expected to happen before had obviously not been this. Though he did expect them to have a much more serious conversation soon. 

“I was in a bit of a rush to get here, _clotpole_.” 

He felt his stomach swoop to see that smile again. Merlin didn’t know how long Arthur would be here, but he would cherish every moment of it. When Arthur gestured for him to follow him into his chambers, Merlin didn’t hesitate to do so. Now that they’d gotten that greeting out of the way, he felt a little bit better than before. If Arthur had wanted to send him to the dungeons or the pyre he would have done so, instead he felt like things could go back to how they had been once again. However, there was still the matter of Arthur’s return they had to discuss, so he sat down at Arthur’s table with him to talk. 


End file.
